Singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae turned poems into 'Pennies in Hand'

Some poems simply make better songs. As part of her Master of Fine Arts curriculum at the University of New Orleans, Kelcy Mae wrote a poem about pennies and a bird. It did not fare well during peer-review workshops.

Photo by Jackson BealsKelcy Mae grew up in Shreveport, then moved to New Orleans to study at Loyola University.

“Let’s put it this way,” Mae said this week. “It didn’t make it into my thesis.”

She later retooled the poem as a song, “Pennies in Hand.” She was so pleased with the result that she showcased it as the title track of her new CD.

On Friday, April 15, Mae and her band celebrate the release of “Pennies in Hand” at Carrollton Station. She’ll also play a free show at the Louisiana Music Factory on Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m.

Born Kelcy Wilburn — her stage name, Kelcy Mae, is a nickname bestowed by her maternal grandfather — she grew up in Shreveport, where she started writing music in high school. She moved to New Orleans in 2001 to major in English and minor in music business at Loyola University. At the urging of friends, she braved open mic nights at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse.

She was graduated from Loyola in May 2005, three months before Hurricane Katrina temporarily chased her back to Shreveport. The Tipitina’s organization’s new musicians co-op in Shreveport helped her find gigs in her former hometown.

She eventually returned to New Orleans and worked as a sales representative for a tile and flooring store, but a nine-to-five job left little time or energy for creative pursuits. She enrolled in the MFA program at UNO in 2007, around the time she released her debut full-length CD, “The Times Compiled.”

“I thought going back to school would help get my creative energy flowing, and help me write songs,” she said. “But I ended up writing more poems. You only have so much creative energy in a day.”

Since graduating in 2010, “it’s all music from here on out.”

Her songs often originate with lyrics; she matches them to melodies found on a guitar or piano. Lyrical raw material mined from her poetry requires tweaking. “I don’t rhyme much in my poetry, and, in the songs, I do. So (the transition) is not exact by any means, but it’s close.”

Mae aspires to a similar aesthetic. “Pennies in Hand” sparkles with nuanced vocals, smart wordplay and a bright, warm production that casts arrangements in a flattering light. Acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, piano, cello, drums and upright bass factor into the mix.

“With this record, I had more freedom to experiment with different textures and instrumentation. The process took a lot longer, but it was nice.”

She covers “Moonshiners,” an Irish standard previously recorded by Bob Dylan, Cat Power and Uncle Tupelo. “Mr. Leopold” is named for a character in James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” She initially recorded it with her full band, but scrapped that version and conjured a richer, darker take with cello and piano. It is the only track on the album on which she plays guitar and sings simultaneously.

“The song slows down and speeds up, and there are different moments of intensity. It’s hard to re-create if you’re just focusing on the instrument or the vocal. I needed to do both to really express how I feel in that song.”

Not surprisingly, Mae puts a premium on lyrics. Two inside panels of the “Pennies in Hand” CD package are crammed with lyrics in small type. “I had to squeeze them all into an affordable CD package. You might need a magnifying glass.”

Fans donated $6,000 via Kickstarter, an online fundraising site, to partially fund the recording. “It was hugely helpful,” she said. “It covered more than half the album, which I wouldn’t have been able to afford on my own.”

Katrina scattered her original band. Her current ensemble includes Lucy Cordts on banjo and mandolin, Kyle Sharamitaro on drums, Owen Romero on bass, “Bad Andy” Neubauer on lead guitar and Tom Marron on violin. They have found an appreciative audience at such venues as Carrollton Station and Chickie Wah Wah.

Looking back, she believes her early gigs as an undergrad, while crucial to her development, did not introduce her at her best.

“I wasn’t really ready for the attention,” she said. “I wasn’t developed enough in terms of who I was and the songs I was writing.

“It’s been a challenge to find an outlet and to find who my listeners are. I’m hoping that’s happening now. It’s taken a minute, but I finally think that I’ve come into my own.”

KELCY MAE

What: A CD release party for the singer-songwriter’s new “Pennies in Hand”

With: The Ramblin’ Letters and Joe Adragna.

When: Friday, April 15, 9 p.m.

Where: Carrollton Station, 8140 Willow St., 504.865.9190.

Admission: $8 at the door.

What else: Mae performs a free show with a trio Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m. at the Louisiana Music Factory, 210 Decatur St.